So much for assimilation!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews ... st_ba.html

Maria Martinez and Jose Valadez were at home in Hillsboro, making tamales and preparing to celebrate New Year's Eve. They wound up celebrating -- just not the way they were planning.

Instead of ringing in the new year with dinner, the couple welcomed a daughter, Ximena, who made her debut at 12:02 a.m. New Year's Day at Tuality Community Hospital in Hillsboro.

Martinez's due date was Jan. 17, so Ximena was a bit ahead of schedule. But the young lady's timing was good: According to hospital reports, Ximena was the first baby born in the Portland metro area in 2008.

If the attention today was bothering Ximena, you couldn't tell. The dark-haired, soft-cheeked bundle was holding up well in light of sudden celebrity. Wrapped in a white blanket and snoozing peacefully, Ximena's only comment was an occasional tiny sneeze.

Martinez, 25, a homemaker, and Valadez, 28, a nursery worker, originally hail from Michoacan state in Mexico. They have been living in Hillsboro for about four years. They talked about their New Year's baby with the help of a Tuality Community Hospital interpreter, Bel Mejia.

Ximena, who weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces, is the couple's second daughter, joining sister Karen, 3. Valadez was suspecting his new child would be a boy -- until Ximena showed up.

What does he think of his new daughter? "Muy bonita," he said, as Mejia translated: "She's very beautiful."

As for Martinez, "she's very happy," if tired, Mejia said. She delivered Ximena naturally, or "with pain," as Mejia translated.

Ximena wasn't the only new Oregonian greeting 2008. At OHSU Hospital, a boy was born at 12:07 a.m., and at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, a girl was born at 12:09 a.m.

The first baby in Vancouver waited awhile to make an entrance. A girl was born at 1:05 a.m. at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital.

-- Kristi Turnquist;
kristiturnquist@news.oregonian.com